Cybercrooks hack trader’s bank account, siphon off 20L

Rajkot: A 26-year-old trader has registered a complaint of cyber fraud involving nearly Rs 20 lakh at the Cyber Crime police station here, alleging that unknown persons gained unauthorised access to his firm's bank account and siphoned off the money.The complainant, Khurban Damra, a trader dealing in agricultural products and a resident of Ghunta village in Gondal taluka of Rajkot district, runs a firm named Om Enterprise. In his complaint, Damra named Vinod Bhojwani, Ronak Jethwa and other unidentified persons as accused.According to the complaint, the fraud came to light on March 5 when Vimal Kathrotiya, an employee of the firm, visited the bank to transfer money through RTGS to another firm. However, bank officials informed him that the account did not have sufficient balance. On checking the account, it was found that three separate transactions totalling Rs 19.99 lakh had been made from the firm's account to another bank account.The money had allegedly been withdrawn without the knowledge of the firm's owner. Damra also discovered that the email ID registered with the bank had become inaccessible. During preliminary verification, police found that the money had been transferred to a Punjab National Bank account belonging to a firm named Nishi Fashion, owned by Vinod Bhojwani. When contacted, Bhojwani allegedly told Damra that the amount had been deposited into his account by Ronak Jethwa, a resident of Rajkot. Bhojwani further claimed that he later sent the money back to Jethwa through an angadia service after keeping a commission of around Rs 39,400.Police said the accused and other unidentified individuals allegedly used computer resources to illegally access the bank account and email ID linked to Om Enterprise, fraudulently obtained bank OTPs and siphoned off nearly Rs 20 lakh.A case has been registered under Sections 318(4) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.